Some Uber drivers don’t know what they make, according to a new study from Georgetown University.

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Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor released a two-year report (pdf) on the working conditions of 40 Uber drivers in the Washington DC area. The top-level points:

Uber drivers don’t know how much they earn (or lose)

Regulators and researchers lack information on driver work conditions

33% of Uber drivers took on debt relating to the job

30% of drivers reported physical assaults or safety concerns

And yet, 50% of drivers would recommend it to a friend, and 45% planned to continue for at least six months

Uber’s take rate on rides improved to 21% in 2017 from 16% in 2016 “as a result of declining Driver incentives,” the company said in its S-1. It ticked up again, to 22% in 2018, on “increases to booking fees in select markets.”

In other words, Uber’s fare games have helped it improve margins, often at the expense of drivers. From the Georgetown report:

Of the 40 drivers in this study, 83% knew what percentage of their fares Uber took but 38% did not know how Uber determined the amount drivers took home on a single fare (whether, for instance, the booking fee is removed before or after Uber takes its commission), whether they were required to buy commercial insurance, or how tax filing worked at the end of the year. This varying degree of knowledge about compensation details could have been expected if the majority of drivers in our study were new to the Uber platform. But they were not. Seventy percent of the drivers in this study had worked on the Uber platform for at least seven months.

Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor released a two-year report (pdf) on the working conditions of 40 Uber drivers in the Washington DC area. The top-level points:

Uber drivers don’t know how much they earn (or lose)

Regulators and researchers lack information on driver work conditions

33% of Uber drivers took on debt relating to the job

30% of drivers reported physical assaults or safety concerns

And yet, 50% of drivers would recommend it to a friend, and 45% planned to continue for at least six months

Uber’s take rate on rides improved to 21% in 2017 from 16% in 2016 “as a result of declining Driver incentives,” the company said in its S-1. It ticked up again, to 22% in 2018, on “increases to booking fees in select markets.”

In other words, Uber’s fare games have helped it improve margins, often at the expense of drivers. From the Georgetown report:

Of the 40 drivers in this study, 83% knew what percentage of their fares Uber took but 38% did not know how Uber determined the amount drivers took home on a single fare (whether, for instance, the booking fee is removed before or after Uber takes its commission), whether they were required to buy commercial insurance, or how tax filing worked at the end of the year. This varying degree of knowledge about compensation details could have been expected if the majority of drivers in our study were new to the Uber platform. But they were not. Seventy percent of the drivers in this study had worked on the Uber platform for at least seven months.

Comments

This is the only job in which income goes down because in 1988 I was making $1000 a week net for a maximum 50 hours per week which included meal and a coffee break which is about 40 hours behind the wheel . You are lucky after all is said and done that you net 38% of your gross and see how many hours you must work to net 1000 in 2019

It's a sad commentary but IMO, the caliber of the drivers we currently see operating for Uber has seriously declined from 2 years ago when it was largely professionals or semi-pro's that were there in a nice car wanting to transport you in a gracious fashion.

But then the rates were cut in half, the majority of those drivers left, and today only a few of those (thankfully) remain in the system (myself included albeit rarely that I drive anymore).

The current slug of drivers, while still being great people, as a rule of thumb tend to lack education, have poor social skills, and frankly only keep the car clean or serviced enough to get from point a to point b. Yes I know that isn't the case for everyone and thankfully there are still plenty of great drivers with immaculate cars out there - but oh, just wait until you get one of the "others".... like the ride I took in Dallas recently where the windows on the INSIDE of the car were so dirty ...

It's a sad commentary but IMO, the caliber of the drivers we currently see operating for Uber has seriously declined from 2 years ago when it was largely professionals or semi-pro's that were there in a nice car wanting to transport you in a gracious fashion.

But then the rates were cut in half, the majority of those drivers left, and today only a few of those (thankfully) remain in the system (myself included albeit rarely that I drive anymore).

The current slug of drivers, while still being great people, as a rule of thumb tend to lack education, have poor social skills, and frankly only keep the car clean or serviced enough to get from point a to point b. Yes I know that isn't the case for everyone and thankfully there are still plenty of great drivers with immaculate cars out there - but oh, just wait until you get one of the "others".... like the ride I took in Dallas recently where the windows on the INSIDE of the car were so dirty you literally could hardly see out of the car and everything seemed slightly distorted. The driver had wiped a spot (it was evident) through his windshield.)

And yet thousands apply daily in hopes that they can somehow beat the system. Driving for Uber is a LOT like gambling... you're always hopeful and waiting for a better hand (or in this case, next trip request) that will actually make a buck.

It's all part of the plan of the Wall Street - rich people. Confuse the less educated and use them to their advantage. This has happened over and over again in history, and this is no exception.

The pay has no transparency, and to make matters worse, our tax system doesn't make the calculation any easier.

Of course, next up is the consumers - people who are taking and riding Ubers. They will also feel the pain. The quality of the service goes down, the price goes up, and all the money gets funneled to the riches.

This will continue until the people rise up, government slowly puts measures in place to protect the people. Then the riches go on to something else where they can do the same.